


Surface Wounds

by Shadesandfrogs



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Eventual Sex, F/M, Knife Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Slow Burn, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Threats of Violence, be gentle i havent written any fic in a while, fix-it fic? more like ignore it fic, in which jyn has enemies in the rebel base and sometimes needs help, jyn gets hurt and cassian takes care of her, not really sure where this story should fit in the canon timeline but here you go i wrote something, sometime after jeddha, sort of, there are a few OCs but dont expect too much theyre just plot catalysts, third person, we are going to ignore the actual plot of the canon because come on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-11 14:05:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8983636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadesandfrogs/pseuds/Shadesandfrogs
Summary: Jyn finds enemies, friends, and perhaps something more on Yavin IV.





	1. everything is okay, but everything also kind of sucks

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hello I haven't written any fic in a while but upon leaving the theatre after Rogue One's premiere I had a lot of feelings and turned to fanfiction to resolve those feelings. AKA in which I ignore the plot and instead focus on Jyn and Cassian and what could have been if the damn Empire didn't ruin things like they always do. This is a slow burn fic set sometime after Jeddha blows up and they're on Yavin IV but I ignore the rest of the plot because :-) Enjoy and thank you for reading!

Informality was part of the inherent nature of rebellions. Resources are always slim, space always scarce, and authority always stretched thin. Jyn was acutely aware of this as she walked through the rebel base on Yavin IV. Soldiers were packed tightly into rooms, corners, hallways. The whole setup reminded Jyn of those tins full of packed preserved fish she used to hate as a child. 

The abandoned temples didn't exactly lend themselves well to being a viable posting for a rebel movement, aside from the simple fact of their remoteness. She figured that there were worse places to be posted. At least the air was clean, the trees lush, and the food abundant.

Still, she regretted the lack of space. She was used to sharing a room with other people after her years in prison, but something about the small, windowless room she shared with five other people made her feel trapped. Perhaps it was the knowledge that there were tons and tons of ancient rock above her that could crush her in a second. Maybe it was the fact she wanted to be left alone with her thoughts at night.

Jyn spent as much time as possible outside of her bunks, wandering the base, listening in on all meetings she could get into. She was well aware that her presence was not completely trusted among the rebels: no matter what she did, her father was still the one who created the monstrosity known as the Death Star. She knew nothing she could say about his intentions would change their minds. Some people just wanted someone to blame for their issues; she understood this. Being one of the most distrusted and disliked people on the base did a number to her paranoia. Jyn was always looking over her shoulder, expecting the worst. While some people seemed to be genuinely friendly towards her, she knew there were people who wished her suffering and pain for what her father's invention did to the planet of Jeddha. Jyn never let her guard down, which while she feared this pushed potential friends and allies away, she rationalized that it was better to be lonely and alive than foolish and dead.


	2. everything is not okay and it's starting to really suck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter that most of the tag warnings are for. In which Jyn finds out she had a reason to be paranoid.

After a meager dinner in the mess hall, Jyn walked back to her bunk room alone, following the darkened hallways like it was her second nature. She heard a slight commotion in the corridor ahead of her and she slowed her pace to a halt, not wanting to get involved in something unpleasant.

"Where's that little Imperial bitch live?"

Jyn felt her heart seize in fear.

"Down that hallway and the second door on the right, isn't it?"

"Aye, but Grol just said he saw her coming this direction just a few minutes ago, we don't have much time if we want to plan an ambush," a deep, unpleasant voice grunted. That must be Rut, the gunner who from day one had made it clear he did not trust her. She swallowed. He was easily three times her size. Jyn sensed there were probably two other people with him, from the different voices. Shit. She heard more footsteps coming from the other direction. She had to make a decision, and fast.

Jyn turned on her heel and walked quickly back the way she came, keeping her head down and pulling her hood up. She had no way of defending herself; her one weapon, a smuggled hunting knife, was in her room tucked securely under her mattress. Jyn heard the new footsteps grow closer. *Please let them be friendly* she thought. She saw their shadow as she walked quickly by them, not daring to look up in self preservation. A rough hand caught her shoulder.

"Hey, where you goin'?"

Jyn glanced up to see Grol, Rut's ugly, massive crony. *Fuck.* She tried to push him away and make a run for it, but his big meaty hand grabbed her wrist and prevented her escape. She looked around in a panic, hoping for something to help her get away. She twisted her arm fruitlessly but Grol just chuckled.

"Well, well, look what we have here."

He picked her up around her torso easily and tossed her over his shoulder, ignoring her scratching and squirming. Jyn was by no definition weak but this monstrosity of a man easily weighed twice, if not three times, as much as her.

"Hey! I got her!" He called down the hallway, carrying her like she was nothing. She swung her elbow at his jaw, making contact and loosening his grip enough to let her scramble free, landing awkwardly on her knee and attempting to make a break down the hallway. She stumbled from the sharp pain in her knee and she watched the ground rise up to her in slow motion as she fell, barely catching herself hard on her arms. Grol caught up to her, now angry. She felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. This wasn't going to end well for her.

Jyn tried to push herself up but a searing pain shot through her wrist. Something was definitely broken. Besides, she found herself lifted up anyway by rough hands under her arms, picking her up like a rag doll and turning her to face the group of her original would-be assailants. A small, wicked looking raven-haired girl with sharp teeth, a slender, dark-skinned boy with glowing yellow eyes, and Rut, the thick-necked gunner who thought way too much of himself.

Jyn felt so vulnerable, her feet barely touching the ground in Grol's grip. She swallowed as she saw the girl hand Rut a gleaming black blade from her boot. The other boy leaned to murmur something in Rut's ear.

"What do you want?"

"You're about to pay for the sins of your father, you Imperial bitch." Rut took a step forward, showing her the knife as he deftly spun it in his palm. Jyn struggled in her captor's arms, her legs flailing, trying to find purchase.

"You don't understand," Jyn insisted, feeling her heart pumping adrenaline through her body. She cursed herself for not taking her knife with her to dinner.

"No I don't. I don't particularly give a fuck either. What I do know is that you're going to pay for all the death and destruction your father has caused," Rut pressed the flat of the knife against her cheek, "such a shame to have to hurt such a pretty face." He smiled in mock remorse, pressing the blade into the skin of her cheek, drawing a thin line of blood along her cheekbone. Jyn felt the sting of the blade bringing out the familiar prick of tears behind her eyes. Blood began dripping down her face. She would not cry.

He left her face to step back for a second, seeming to consider something. With one hand he grabbed the neck of her shirt and with the other he began to drag the knife down, cutting it open. _No.._

"What's going on here?" Jyn heard a familiar accented voice. She couldn't turn her head but she was certain it was Captain Andor. Rut quickly tried to disentangle the knife from her clothes, in his haste cutting across Jyn's now-exposed stomach, causing her to cry out in pain. Grol released her, stepping back, and she crumpled to the ground.

"Freeze."

She looked up to see Cassian pulling his blaster out, pointing it at the group. She saw his steely gaze falter when he saw her bloodied and her shirt torn.

"Drop the knife."

Rut did as he was told, his tough persona fading quickly when faced with someone who absolutely outranked him and had the power to destroy his life. Jyn had never been so relieved to see that bastard of a captain in her life.

"Hands up you four, on your knees against the wall."

She struggled to stand up with what she thought was a sprained knee, the shallow cut on her stomach now staining her shirt a deep crimson and her wrist starting to swell. Cassian looked her over, still keeping his blaster aimed at the kids. They looked genuinely afraid of what he might do. There was an angry fire in his eyes that Jyn had never seen before.

Cassian stepped forward, picking up the knife off of the ground where Rut had dropped it. He pressed a button on his commlink and spoke in a language she didn't understand. After a quick response he nodded: "We can wait."

"Guards are coming to escort you four to Mon Mothma immediately for interrogation and demotion. If you ever lay a fucking hand on one of my crew members again you will lose a lot more than your rank and status, I promise you."

Jyn was humiliated. Of course, she was glad to be alive but hated to be saved by anyone, much less in front of people who already thought her to be weak. Her savior being Cassian Andor made it even worse. She didn't need people believing she was a pet of the Rebellion's higher-ups.

Once the guards arrived and took her assailants out of sight for questioning, Cassian turned to her with seemingly genuine concern in his eyes. "Are you alright? Why did they attack you?"

Jyn tried to open her mouth to respond but her vision started to go blurry and she felt her knees go weak _. Huh_ , she thought, _That cut must have been deeper than I thought_. She heard the captain say her name before she felt herself falling and everything going to black.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so thats that. now we can get to the important Jyn and Cassian relationship building right? also, deeply sorry if there are any errors or general mistakes (I wrote this at like one AM and proofread it only briefly??) and i had a conundrum- what happens to rebels who harm other rebels? imprisonment? demotion?? death?? anyway i dont know but its such a minor part of the story that i figured i could just give it my best guess? BUT thanks for reading I will have the next chapter up sometime soon I'm already in the process of writing it :-)


	3. Everything still kind of sucks but at least it seems like some people are trying to help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jyn wakes up somewhere unusual and people are unexpectedly helpful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya I said this would be up in a couple of days but then I went ahead and wrote five thousand words for these two scenes because??  
> Featuring some minor medical stuff but no intense graphic descriptions of anything if that's something that squicks u out. I tried to keep it as close to Canon Star Wars Medical Practices™ but sadly I know very little about those so please let me know if there's an inaccuracy and I'll change it.  
> Also work with me because I had to make up a backstory for Cassian I'm SORRY I couldn't find any kind of canon backstory and I like my men the way I like my plots: with a tragic backstory :-)

        Jyn woke up in the most comfortable bed she had ever been in. Her eyes blinked open to a room lit by a few dim lamps. She appeared to be in someone's bedroom. Jyn tried to push herself up on her forearms but was stopped immediately by a sharp pain in her wrist and hand, crying out softly. _Oh yeah. That happened._

"Don't try to move much. The medical staff is a bit preoccupied with the survivors of the latest raid but said they would try to make some time to see you.  I've patched you up as much as I know how to do but I'm afraid you'll need stitches on that stomach wound and an actual brace for your wrist. How do you feel about walking?"

Jyn looked at the source of the voice. Captain Andor. Of course. Wait...

"How long have I been out? And whose bed is this?"

He pursed his lips, glancing down at his watch.

"Only about forty five minutes. It seems you passed out from shock rather than serious blood loss as far as I can tell. As for your second question, mine. My room was the closest place I knew had first aid supplies."

Jyn thought that was odd. She was suddenly self conscious. What if she got blood on his blankets? She glanced down. To her surprise she was wearing an unfamiliar gray shirt. She raised an eyebrow.

He noticed her confusion and looked embarrassed. "Also mine. That Rut kid did a number to the one you were wearing. Wanted to preserve your dignity while I was bandaging that cut on your stomach-"

"It's fine," she assured him, noticing his discomfort and flushed cheeks. She felt a warmth creep into her own. Even though she was sure it wasn't that big of a deal to him, she was embarrassed to have been seen near naked.

Jyn brushed her fingertips against the side of her face, expecting to feel the angry knife wound Rut had given her but instead feeling soft gauze and medical tape. Her wrist was bound tightly in a sort of stretchy cloth, immobilized. She couldn't see her belly under the blanket and Cassian's shirt but her hands explored underneath and felt bacta-soaked gauze and the same kind of tape. So that's why she wasn't feeling the sharp pain of the wounds.

"Thank you for this," Jyn murmured with genuine sincerity. She hadn't been cared for to this extent since her childhood.

"It's no problem," Cassian responded, not meeting her gaze, "I'm going to call the medical center again, let them know you're awake. Do you think you could handle walking there?"

Jyn swung her (thankfully) clothed legs to the side of the bed, setting her stocking feet on the ground before trying to stand up. She felt a shooting pain in her knee that made her vision go blurry and she immediately slumped back onto the bed, giving up on the hope of being able to walk unassisted.

"I'll need help, for sure, but I can make it." Jyn paused for a second, “Captain?”

“You can call me Cassian,” he looked up and met her eyes before quickly looking back down at his desk’s comm unit. Jyn was confused by him. She thought he hated her after that initial outburst when she had found out that he was planning to kill her father. It made no sense for him to care for her like this. He could have just dropped her at the door of the medical wing and went on with his business. Maybe he felt bad about trying to kill her father. Perhaps he just simply pitied her.

“Why are you doing this for me?”

“You’re my responsibility; in case you forgot, you are Galen Erso’s daughter and the only surviving person that heard his message. You know where the plans are. This rebellion needs you.”

She was quiet after that, listening idly to his call to the medical offices. Jyn didn’t know why this answer left her disappointed. He was right. It would be a massive inconvenience to the Alliance if she died.

On the surface, his explanation was completely sound but Jyn felt like there was still somehow more to it. Of course, it would be neglecting his job responsibilities if he had simply ignored the altercation and let Jyn die, but something about the level of care he had taken for her safety seemed like something you would do for a friend, not some girl you could barely stand. Jyn and Cassian had survived stressful situations together and exchanged intimate levels of trust but it wasn’t like she would call him a close friend. More like an acquaintance, she thought. Surely he thought the same? Jyn had never been good at judging social situations, even ones that involved herself.

“Are you ready to go?” Cassian asked her, returning to the edge of the bed. Jyn looked up at him, frowning.

“Where are my shoes?”

“Oh. Yeah. Shoes. Hold on a second.” The captain went over to the other side of his bed, reaching down and picking up her boots, handing them to her. She struggled to put them on with her one incapacitated hand but she didn’t want to ask for help. She could do this, damn it.

Jyn managed to get her feet slid into the shoes but the laces were proving difficult with only one hand. _Fuck it_ , she thought to herself, and started to get up with the laces untied. Untied shoes were the least of her issues right now.

Cassian offered her his shoulder to help her stand up. He glanced down at her shoelaces and frowned. “Sit back down,” he said. He kneeled down and began tying them for her. Jyn felt her face flame. She felt like a child, unable to put on her own shoes properly, her superior ranking officer having to do it for her. Such a simple thing to be embarrassed by, considering he had already seen her pass out from shock, half naked and close to tears, but her inability to complete a simple task really struck her as the final blow to her pride. Tears of frustration began wetting her eyelashes.

Her shoes were finally tied suitably to his taste and Cassian offered his help for her to stand yet again. He didn’t notice her watery eyes, thank the gods, but she still felt humiliation washing over her entire body. It didn’t help that she had to lean most of her weight on him to get up. The fingers of her good hand held tightly to his shoulder. She was surprised at the feeling of firm, built muscle underneath his jacket.

She stumbled when she took her first few steps, barely able to place any weight on her right knee, and he seemed to instinctively grab her by the waist to steady her.

“Sorry,” he uttered, removing his hand quickly.

“S’okay,” Jyn muttered, knowing she would need his counterbalance if they were going to make it anywhere, despite her pride. She didn’t want to admit it, but it didn’t hurt that his hand felt warm and comforting against her side. She felt ashamed for even thinking it.

Cassian looked at her, waiting for her to ready herself to actually leave the room.

“Give me a second,” Jyn breathed, testing her knee to see just how much weight she could bear to put on it. She was going to have to lean on him a lot more than she would like to.

“Jyn, I did carry you here by myself. You don’t have to worry about hurting me; you aren’t nearly heavy enough,” Cassian said with the smallest hint of a grin as they began the long walk to the medbay.

Jyn felt her face flush for what must have been the hundredth time in the past hour alone. She tightened her left arm around his neck, gripping his jacket. She would make it there if it was the last damn thing she did.

She hid her face from passerby, not wanting to be seen in this state of weakness. She truly looked like she had been on the losing end of a fight, and the last thing she wanted from the Alliance members was pity. She wanted respect.

Walking through the main hangar was the part she was dreading the most. Jyn knew most of the pilots (outside of Bodhi) were Rut’s friends and harbored no love for her. Thankfully, given the time of night, only a few people were out and about. Most were finishing up with their work, preparing to go back to their bunks and have a restful night of sleep. Jyn doubted she’d have that.

She wondered if she would ever feel safe in her bunk again. Of course, she used ‘safe’ as a relative word because she never felt truly safe around others, much less after she learned there was a group of people who wanted her dead. She wondered if it would be worse to not return, ask to be reassigned. Would that be considered a surrender? Her enemies learn the lesson that she’s easily frightened and has the Council in her pocket because of her important father. No, that wouldn’t do.

Staying in her bunk would certainly be the more dangerous option, the one they wouldn’t expect her to choose. She knew that they know exactly where she lived and that they weren’t above physically harming her. But would they dare? Perhaps the punishment that stands to befall Rut and the others would dissuade them from attacking her physically, but there was no way to be sure how dedicated they were to their cause.

Her silent musing kept her mind occupied all the way up to the doors to the medical wing. The only sounds that punctuated their journey were her hisses of pain when she put too much weight on her knee. Cassian didn’t seem to mind the relative silence, anyway. He seemed distant but his hand stayed firmly at her side, never faltering, even when she stumbled.

When he finally helped her onto an examining table in one of the medical alcoves, Jyn half expected him to leave her there and let her get back by herself. To her surprise, he sat down in one of the chairs and waited for one of the nurses to come in and see her.

A nurse with thick, kinky black hair and tawny skin came into the small triage cubicle, her kind brown eyes bloodshot and tired, her white uniform wrinkled.

“Sorry, today has been a long day. The last failed raid party got back this morning and I’ve been in and out of critical operations all day. Dear, I heard about what happened. How are you feeling?”

Reflexively, Jyn responded, “I’m fine, actually. Just a few cuts and bruises really.”

The nurse made a face at her, crossing her arms. “That’s not what Captain Andor here said. Honey, I work with soldiers all the time. I know you want to act tough and pretend like everything is fine in front of your superior officer but the fact remains that I simply can’t help you feel better if you don’t tell me what hurts.”

“I’m sorry, it’s a reflex. I have a cut here,” she pointed at her cheek, “and here,” she lifted her (well, Cassian’s) shirt up to show the bandage on her stomach, “and I think I sprained my knee and broke my wrist.” Jyn held up her wrapped hand with a weak, apologetic smile.

“Was that so hard?” The nurse came up to her and peeled the bandage on her face off, pulling some of Jyn’s baby hairs with it. She grimaced. She glanced down at the nurse’s nametag. Amata. That’s a nice name, she thought.

“This cut’s not so deep. All you need here is a simple antiseptic and to keep it covered with clean bandages while it heals. Replace them once a day. Do not touch it or play with it. Sleep on clean pillows. You’re lucky it doesn’t need stitches.”

Amata pressed something coated with antiseptic against her cut and Jyn hissed in pain through her teeth. But before she knew it the pain had fizzled away and the nurse was applying a fresh bandage.

“Now, let’s look at this one,” Amata leaned down and started gently removing the bandage on her stomach. Jyn didn’t like the look of concern that flitted across her face when she first pulled the gauze off.

“Captain Andor?” Amata called him over. Jyn looked down at the wound. She wasn’t exactly particularly squeamish but the angry red slash that ran diagonal above her belly button nearly made her faint. She could barely fathom that it had been an accident.

“How did you treat this?”

Cassian looked concerned that he might have done something wrong. He stammered: “Uh, it had stopped bleeding heavily by the time I got her to a safe area so I rinsed away the excess blood with warm water and then put bacta on it and then put on the bandage. I’ve only had basic first aid training I-“

“Don’t worry,” Amata interrupted him, “You did well. It doesn’t look like it especially needs stitches given that it’s not too deep and didn’t go past the bottom layer of skin but it is going to be a nasty scar. Clean bandages and bacta application once or twice daily and I’ll give you an antibiotic as well, just in case to make sure it doesn’t become infected. Who’s going to be taking care of you, dear?”

Jyn was surprised at her question, “What do you mean?”

“Honey, you can’t be serious. You can barely walk and your hand is going to be useless until it heals completely. You need someone to help you around and ensure your bandages stay clean.”

“I can, if Jyn is alright with it,” Cassian said, quite unexpectedly. Jyn was confused. Had he not done enough to help her? Surely she could find someone else to assist with her recovery: Chirrut or Baze, maybe, if they weren’t too busy with their new postings within the Alliance.

Jyn felt guilty. It dawned on her that maybe Cassian did too, for almost killing her father. Was he trying to make up for that? Did he even care enough about her feelings to consider it?

“Good enough. You two discuss it and let me go talk to someone to get these instructions written down and a pack of bandages and bacta. I need to know who I’m giving them to.”

Amata left the small cubicle, leaving the two of them alone. There was an awkward silence.

“So, are you so bored you have nothing else to do but look after the daughter of a dead Imperial engineer whose death you facilitated? Do you feel _bad_ for me because you tried to kill my father?” Jyn didn’t initially intend to sound so belligerent and she immediately regretted it when she saw the flash of anger in his eyes. She felt guilty. This man had saved her life and she was taking her anger and frustration out on him.

“It’s _not_ because of that and you know it. Those were my orders, Jyn. I didn’t _want_ to do it. But that’s beside the point; why can you not accept that some things are done out of kindness and not some twisted sort of equivalent exchange system? I thought we had known each other long enough for you to understand that.”

Jyn was quiet for a minute, tears starting to flood her vision before she could hold them back. She knew she had issues with accepting acts of kindness. She didn’t need Cassian to point it out. It was the reason she had been lonely for most of her existence. Kindness always seemed to have a price in her life, ever since her parents died. People were only nice to her when they wanted something from her, be it a favor, her body, or their own peace of mind. She had arrived at the only logical solution to her: that Cassian simply was trying to make himself feel better about trying to kill her father. She had not considered that it could be anything else, really. It’s not like she had much to offer him other than her trust at the moment.

Cassian noticed her tears. The anger seemed to quickly leave his eyes and they softened to something akin to an apology.

 “Hey- I’m sorry,” he mumbled, “There was no reason for me to-”

Amata came in with her arms full of medical supplies, interrupting their conversation. She seemed confused when she saw Jyn’s eyes brimming with tears and Cassian’s concerned gaze. She appeared to immediately understand that she had walked in on something.

“Is everything… alright?”

“Of course,” Jyn replied, too quickly. Perhaps Amata could suggest a different method of treatment, one that she could visit the medical wing regularly for. One that didn’t make her feel guilty about accepting help from someone she had done nothing for.

“Can you look at my wrist? I’d like to know how long it will be before I can use both of my hands.” _And not need any help,_ she thought.

“Let me get this cut patched up first. Do you know how to change a bandage?”

Jyn shook her head, “No, but I’m a fast learner.”

Amata made a face, pursing her lips. She had a feeling that the nurse intuitively knew about what had happened with her and Cassian without having to be told. She began applying some kind of bacta gel to the cut and the pain of the wound faded away almost immediately. Jyn watched as she carefully cut, folded, and arranged the sterile gauze over it and secured it in place with medical tape holding it to her skin. A task, she noticed, that she definitely would not be able to do by herself. The steps definitely seemed simple enough, but almost impossible with only one mobile hand.

“Honey, I can teach you all the medical techniques under the suns but the fact remains that if your wrist truly is broken it will need a kind of advanced splint to immobilize it. By the way the swelling seems to start in your wrist and goes all the way up to your fingers, I’m thinking that it’s probably a few fractures in both your carpals and metacarpals. Of course, we will need to do some scans to be sure, but I’m guessing that it’s going to be a good one and a half to two months before you will have the use of that hand.”

Jyn groaned softly, her head falling back on the examination table. Amata made another face at her.

“Captain Andor, would you mind stepping out into the waiting room while I do the scans?”

“Of course,” he left the room without another remark. Jyn wondered what he was thinking. _Probably that he regretted saving me- I’ve been nothing but trouble for him so far,_ she thought. She was an integral part of his mission to take down the Death Star, but surely he could somehow do it without her, right? She figured that he _must_ have other responsibilities around the base aside from babysitting her. Jyn made a mental note to perhaps talk to Mon Mothma or some other council member to find out. Once she could actually walk by herself, of course.

Cassian seemed unusually shrouded in mystery, yet Jyn somehow sensed that he was genuine when he said his motives had nothing to do with her father. She was unnerved that he saw directly through her to her very core and pointed out her distrust for kindness. Even though she wasn’t sure if she even liked the man, she had to acknowledge that not many people would spend the night tending to the wounds of someone you just barely tolerated. Jyn felt bad that she was so cold to him. She wished apologies came naturally to her. She felt like one was in order.

“The name’s Jyn, right?”

She nodded. Her nurse pursed her lips yet again.

“My name’s Amata, if you didn’t already know,” she gestured down at her nametag, “Jyn, I understand not wanting to accept help. I really do. But I know Captain Andor. He’s been in here many times from wounds received in the line of fire. Blaster shots, broken bones, you name it. Even when in severe pain the man is as appreciative and nice as he could be. You should have heard him when he was on the phone with me earlier, describing what happened to you. He was very upset that someone had attacked you and was panicked that your injuries might be too severe for him to handle. He seems to genuinely care about you.”

Jyn didn’t know where Amata was going with this while she was setting up the screening equipment. She was confused about the information she was giving her. To her, Cassian seemed as cool and collected as ever when she had woken up. Perhaps Amata was just telling her to ease her worries. She opened her mouth to speak, but Amata cut her off.

“Listen, Jyn. I’ve been told I have a good eye for reading people. I was a psychiatric nurse for the Rebellion before the medical care wing lost half its staff and I was asked to help tend to the physical wounds that soldiers brought back from battle. Once after a nasty skirmish on some Outer Rim planet, I was digging shrapnel from a rogue grenade out of the Captain’s arm. That month we were running low on bacta and painkillers because of an Imperial raid. I told him that I could maybe spare one or two doses for him but he insisted that I give them instead to his comrade who was going to have his leg amputated from some nasty infection, to alleviate his pain instead. He told me that he had watched his mother die from the same kind of illness, the Imperial doctors on his home planet refusing to spare any medicine for a sick peasant woman. He said that he would never allow his friend to go through the same pain and suffering that his mother did. In all of my years, I’ve never seen something quite so selfless. The man has a good heart. That’s why I’m telling you this. It is okay to trust him. I think he genuinely wants to help.”

Jyn felt her mind whirl as Amata placed her hand in the holographic blue scanning field. She had so much to think about. The nurse looked at the floating image that resulted and frowned. Jyn was almost too deep in thought to notice. She was examining Cassian’s actions and motives in the context of what Amata had just told her, thinking about the possibility that Cassian genuinely had no ulterior motive for wanting to help. It was a foreign concept to her and she had to shake through a haze of denial to even consider it.

“Did you hear me?” Amata asked.

“Um, sorry, no,” Jyn blushed, “What is it?”

“I said you have three separate fractures. You have one here, in your fifth metacarpal,” she gestured at the holographic scan of your hand, towards the far end of your palm, “and two here on two of your carpals,” she pointed to what Jyn thought looked like a bunch of marbles where her wrist was. She supposed that she saw the little lines where they had broken but obviously she was no medical expert.

“So what’s the verdict?”

“You’ll definitely need to wear an immobilizing splint for about two months once the swelling goes down. I’m going to recommend that you move this hand as little as possible. I’m going to look at your knee now, before I go to find a splint for your wrist. Can you roll up your pants?”

Jyn rolled the leg of her pants up gingerly over her knee. The skin was tender and swollen. Amata felt around the sides of her kneecap and pressed firmly, testing the tendons underneath the swelling. Jyn hissed through her teeth and clenched her jaw as the nurse poked and prodded.

“This is definitely a sprain. We don’t have the kind of equipment to tell exactly where, but it seems like you sprained a minor supporting ligament in your knee. Not especially serious, but it hurts like all hell. Wrap this daily and don’t put too much pressure on it. It will probably heal on its own in a few months but come back in a few weeks and I’ll see if there is anything else I can do to help it heal a bit faster. Let me go find a splint and some kind of support wrap somewhere. I’ll tell the Captain he can come back in here, if that’s okay with you?”

“That’s fine,” Jyn responded. She was going to try to work up the courage to apologize to him. Amata left the cubicle and headed to the waiting room. She heard soft words being exchanged and then footsteps heading towards her room.

“Jyn?” Cassian’s accented voice spoke her name. She looked up and saw him in the doorway. “Do you mind if I come in?”

She gave him a curt nod. She tried to remind herself to not be so cold to him. He took a few steps inside the examining area.

“What was the verdict on your hand?”

Jyn shrugged, “Broken in three places. She said I wasn’t allowed to do anything with my hand for almost two months.”

“Did she teach you how to change bandages with only one hand?” Cassian seemed like he was only half joking. She knew what he was actually asking.

“Nope,” she grimaced, “Cassian- I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have questioned your motives. I do actually need someone to help me out and so far you’re the only person I trust that seems to be competent with this kind of stuff. Also, you’re kind of the only one who volunteered so…”

She enjoyed the grin that cracked across his face. He looked down at his shoes and then back up at her, still grinning. He seemed like he was about to open his mouth to speak but Jyn beat him to it.

“But I do have one question for you: why are you doing this?”

His grin faded to an expression of thoughtfulness.

“Amata told me that she told you the story of my friend who was dying of fleshrot, yes?”

Jyn nodded. She assumed that was the infection she was talking about.

“And about my mother?”

She nodded again.

“When my mother died I was very young, probably about eight or nine years old. The Imperial medical officers told us there was nothing they could do to help her but I knew that it was bullshit, even at that age. They had bacta and antibiotics and surgeons, so why couldn’t they help my mother? At the time I didn’t understand that they weren’t helping her because they valued her life as less than the Imperial soldier that they could save with those same supplies. In short, they let my mother die because she was a poor peasant and too sick to give her life to the Empire as a soldier or officer. I remember begging them to save her.”

Cassian cleared his throat, his accent becoming thicker. Jyn could hear him struggle to get the words out.

“After she died, I swore that I would do anything I possibly could to take the Empire down. I had experienced firsthand the amount of cruelty they were capable of, tearing any hope my single mother had of seeing her only child grow up away in an instant. I spent my youth wandering, trying to get in touch with the Rebellion I had heard about in whispered conversations. I ended up finding passage to the nearest Rebel-controlled planet: Alderaan. From there, the Rebellion found me. I joined, pledging to myself that I would never let myself be as cruel as the men who tore my mother’s life away from her. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m still helping people, even if it’s a simple thing like making sure that my crew mate doesn’t get killed by some kids who think she’s to blame for something her father was forced to do.”

“Cassian… I’m sorry.”

Jyn had never been good at dealing with emotions, be it her own or someone else’s. She was used to people pretending that everything was fine, putting on a front to hide any signs of weakness, so she was unprepared for Cassian’s openness. She recognized the importance of the vulnerability he was showing her. He was taking a leap of faith, trusting in her, offering her an opportunity for her to trust him. _Trust goes both ways,_ she remembered telling him on the day they left for Jedha.

“Thank you for telling me this. I’m sorry for doubting you.”

The captain nodded, accepting her apology. She felt the overlaying tension of anger dissolve between them. There was barely a moment of silence before Amata came back into the room, carrying a roll of white tape and a metal splint.

“Sit down, please,” the nurse ordered Cassian, gesturing towards a chair. She set down the materials and kneels down with the tape, wrapping Jyn’s knee with the speed and skill of someone who had done this many times before.

“Is that too tight?”

Jyn flexed her leg a couple of times, the tape seeming to take some of the painful pressure off of her sprained ligament. She shook her head.

“Good. Now let’s get this wrist unwrapped to see the extent of the swelling and then possibly put this splint on. After that you’re good to go.”

Amata made quick work of the wrapping around her wrist. The swelling was almost grotesque, her hand patterned with dark purple bruises. The nurse examined her skin for a moment and seemed to change her mind.

“Okay, so I’m going to forgo the splint for now to allow the swelling to go down and we’re just going to redo this wrap, alright? Keep ice on it tonight to help with the pain and swelling and come back tomorrow for the splint.”

“Thank you,” Jyn smiled at her while she wound the stretchy tape around her wrist and hand.

“Who am I giving these materials to?” Amata gestured to the small pile of bandages, antibiotics, and bacta canisters. She was done with Jyn’s wrist.

“Captain Andor.”

“Very well,” she said, packing them into a small bag, addressing him now: “You know how to use all of this, right? Two antibiotics a day, one with breakfast and one with dinner. Help her get back here around this time tomorrow. It’s a good thing you’re the one taking care of her.”

Cassian nodded, taking inventory of the items as she handed him the bag. He slung it over his shoulder and went to help Jyn stand up from the table.

“Thank you very much, Amata,” he said. Jyn tried to force a genuine smile but she felt her body aching, not from her wounds, but from exhaustion. It had been a long day and all she wanted was a good night’s sleep. It was time for this drama-filled night to end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ain't that some shit, right? I tried to polish the chapter up a bunch before I even thought about posting it so sorry for the wait.  
> ALso on a very sad note I spent all of yesterday afternoon crying mourning Carrie Fisher's death. I'm forming a support group for all of us who grew up with her as our role model only to have 2016 rudely take her away from us. It's okay though; she drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra :')  
> As always thanks for reading and let me know what you liked/didn't like + I'll have a new chapter up sometime soon! :-)


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